Walmart Wants New Store at Former Car Dealership in Stone Mountain

Walmart confirmed on Friday that it wants to build a store on the site of a former car dealership neart the corner of N. Hairston Road and Memorial Drive in Stone Mountain, creating about 300 jobs.

If approved, construction would begin on the approximately 152,000 square foot store in the second quarter of 2012, with an opening in 2013, said Walmart spokesman Glen Wilkins.

Walmart is now going through the permitting process with DeKalb County. Public hearings will be announced, Wilkins said.

“As a merchant on Memorial Drive and chair of the Memorial Drive Merchants Association, if the public wants the [Walmart], we will fully support the business,” said Nick Goebeler, who owns the at 5542 Memorial Dr.

The store would include a grocery component, deli, fresh produce, pharmacy and garden center but no Tire and Lube Express, Wilkins said.

Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton, District 4, announced Walmart’s interest in building a store in the area during the Memorial Drive Public Safety Plan meeting earlier this week.

“We saw it as a market we haven’t been able to serve as effectively” as other surrounding areas, Wilkins said. There is a Walmart at 1825 Rockbridge Rd. in Stone Mountain and at 3580 Memorial Dr., Decatur.